133: The lingering influence of the Golden Tuo Dao Lord

The Xuan Yin Mountain Range, spanning tens of thousands of miles, lay across the center of the Xuan Yin Continent, shrouded year-round in thick, lead-gray clouds of gloom.

Hardly any vegetation could be seen among the mountains; only countless bloodstains, skeletons, wandering spirits, and Evil Qi swayed ceaselessly in the never-ending yin winds.

This was the location of the Xuan Yin Palace's mountain gate.

The Foundation of a Demonic Path titan that had stood in the Cangmang Realm for tens of thousands of years.

However, at this moment, the center of these deathly and somber mountains was being enveloped by a diametrically opposite, overwhelming heat and pressure.

High in the sky, the clouds of gloom were forcibly dispersed and evaporated, revealing a strange firmament where crimson and Chaos intertwined.

A towering Dharma Idol, six thousand zhang tall, stood quietly in the high heavens.

Holding a mirror in its left hand and a mountain in its right, with a furnace hanging high behind it.

Its entire body shimmered with a fire-jade-like glazed luster. As its eyes opened and closed, a sea of fire seemed to churn within, scorching the yin-evil Death Qi accumulated over ten thousand years in the skies above the Xuan Yin Mountain Range until it sizzled and continuously receded.

On the mountain surface, countless low-level wandering spirits and Refined Corpses didn't even have time to wail before they turned into wisps of green smoke within the escaping high-temperature Dao resonance.

True Monarch Taihe did not strike immediately, but merely looked down in silence at the cluster of pitch-black palaces below, which were shrouded in the light of a deep netherworld Formation.

In the end, he still hadn't caught up.

As an established Peak Dharma Idol Cultivator, True Monarch Haoran also possessed a superior Dharma Idol. Although he had one fewer heaven-bestowed Magic Treasure compared to True Monarch Taihe, the gap between the two was not yet an insurmountable chasm.

It would be easy for True Monarch Taihe to defeat him, but not so easy to completely annihilate him.

With him as cover, and since the two of them had no desire to fight and only wanted to flee, True Monarch Taihe's frantic pursuit over hundreds of thousands of miles still failed to stop them, allowing them to slip into the Mountain Protecting Grand Formation.

However, both of them had been wounded by him.

Below him, the Xuan Yin Palace's fourth-grade High Grade Mountain Protecting Grand Formation—the "Nine Nether Xuan Yin Ten Thousand Soul Immortal-Slaying Formation"—was already fully active.

At the summits of the nine tallest main Peaks, massive pitch-black pillars of light rose. Within the pillars, countless vengeful Souls and fierce spirits with distorted faces struggled and howled frantically, merging into a giant, translucent black banner that covered a thousand-mile radius in the sky.

Above the Formation, nine nearly ten-thousand-zhang-long phantoms of Netherworld Bone Dragons with hideous scales roamed, breathing out Soul-freezing Xuan Yin Evil Fire.

Beneath the heavy barrier, layers of Restrictions such as yin thunder, toxic miasma, bone spears, and Soul blades flickered, guarding the mountain gate as securely as an iron barrel.

At the core of the Formation's eye, the Xuan Yin Palace Master and True Monarch Haoran stood side by side, their expressions grim to the extreme.

Behind them were the few Xuantai True Person Elders and numerous Disciples remaining at the Xuan Yin Palace. Everyone's face was pale as they looked up at the Dharma Idol in the sky, which seemed like a descending sun, their eyes filled with shock and panic.

The situation on the front lines had clearly been excellent; how could it have suddenly reversed, with their own Old Ancestor and another unfathomable Senior being chased all the way back to their doorstep in such a wretched state?

"Taihe!"

The Xuan Yin Palace Master's voice came through the Formation, carrying suppressed shock and anger along with an imperceptible hint of weakness. "You have pursued us for hundreds of thousands of miles. Do you truly intend to drive us to extinction and fight my Xuan Yin Palace to the death?!"

True Monarch Haoran also spoke in a heavy voice, "Fellow Daoist Taihe, one should show mercy whenever possible."

"You have already reached the Peak and Ascension is in sight; why push us so hard? If we truly fight to the death, this Ten Thousand Soul Immortal-Slaying Formation is not to be trifled with. Furthermore, my Wuji Sect from the Kunwu Continent is not—"

Before he could finish his sentence.

True Monarch Taihe slowly lowered his head. There was no joy or sorrow in his eyes, only an indifferent heat.

He did not answer, but merely raised his right palm.

Upon his palm, that miniature tai he precious mountain suddenly erupted with brilliant light, swelling rapidly as it met the wind!

"Suppress."

It was just a single word, yet it resounded like a heavenly decree deep within the Divine Soul of every Xuan Yin Palace Cultivator.

In the next moment, the Taihe Mountain, which had already grown to ten thousand zhang, slowly pressed down toward the Ten Thousand Soul Immortal-Slaying Formation that covered the heavens and earth.

"Taihe!!!"

The Xuan Yin Palace Master roared in anger. The two of them forcibly suppressed their injuries and channeled their magic power into the Formation.

The moment the thousand-mile Formation made contact with the bottom of the mountain's shadow, an earth-shaking wail of ghosts and howl of gods erupted!

"Boom—Sizzle—!!!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, dense black smoke mixed with the remnants of vengeful Souls that had been instantly purified and evaporated billowed frantically from the point of contact, looking like a hundred-mile-high mushroom cloud.

The nine roaming Netherworld Bone Dragon phantoms let out shrill roars and lunged fearlessly at the mountain shadow, breathing out Dragon breath capable of freezing Magic Treasures and swinging bone claws that could tear through the sky.

"Roar—Roar—"

The nine pitch-black pillars of light supporting the Formation shook violently. Within the pillars, countless vengeful Souls and fierce spirits were like snowmen exposed to a blazing sun, melting away in large swaths and screaming as they turned into green smoke.

But, in the end, it held.

A fourth-grade High Grade Mountain Protecting Grand Formation, supported by two Great True Monarchs and a fourth-grade High Grade Spiritual Vein beneath the ground, was not so easily broken unless a Primordial Spirit Realm expert intervened.

No matter how Heaven-Defying True Monarch Taihe was, he had not, after all, condensed a Primal Chaos Dharma Idol.

"Again!"

True Monarch Taihe grew ruthless. The Taihe Mountain in his hand smashed down repeatedly, the flames from the furnace incinerating the thousand-mile firmament, and the brilliant white mirror light illuminating the night sky for thousands of miles.

"Boom—Boom—Boom—"

For several whole hours.

True Monarch Taihe alone besieged the Formation, bombarding it frantically, but the Formation beneath him showed no signs of breaking.

"Enough!! Taihe! Do you truly want to fight to the death?!"

The Xuan Yin Palace Master, both shocked and furious, hissed and roared.

True Monarch Haoran's eyes twitched violently, and the anger and humiliation in his heart almost consumed him.

"The fish may die, but the net will not break!"

True Monarch Taihe sneered, and the Taihe Mountain in his hand smashed down once more, producing a deafening explosion.

"What exactly do you want! You cannot break this Formation. Do you really want to taste the hidden Foundation of my Xuan Yin Palace?!"

The Xuan Yin Palace Master's face was somewhat distorted.

The danger of the sect's destruction and his own life could likely be preserved, but to be besieged at the mountain gate and bombarded like this by True Monarch Taihe was simply too humiliating!!

"Oh? Hidden Foundation? Bring it out and let me see."

Only then did True Monarch Taihe stop, a hint of mockery appearing at the corners of his mouth.

"Fine, fine, fine!"

The Xuan Yin Palace Master laughed out of extreme anger. His figure vanished instantly and reappeared ten breaths later.

But in his hand, there was now a black statue.

It looked unremarkable.

However, when True Monarch Taihe's gaze fell upon it, a frantic alarm instantly went off in his heart, giving him a hair-raising sensation.

He couldn't help but retreat dozens of miles, his expression hesitant.

"Humph, now that I've brought it out, you're not happy anymore."

The Xuan Yin Palace Master sneered.

"What is that thing?"

True Monarch Taihe asked in a solemn tone.

"This was left behind by our Ancestral Master, Dao Lord Jintuo, before his Ascension more than ten thousand years ago. It cannot be considered a fifth-grade treasure, but it contains a portion of his Primordial Spirit power!"

Having brought out his greatest trump card, the Xuan Yin Palace Master's tone was no longer weak but began to sound firm. "What? Do you want to try it, Fellow Daoist Taihe?!"

True Monarch Taihe's expression changed rapidly before returning to calm. He chuckled softly, "Trying to bluff me? I was almost fooled. If this object truly contained Primordial Spirit power, why didn't you bring it out earlier?"

With that, he moved forward again, and the light of the Taihe Mountain in his hand gradually began to bloom.

"Then come and try it!!"

The Xuan Yin Palace Master's tone was equally firm.

At the same time, the black statue in his hand emitted faint glimmers of ghostly light, and an almost imperceptible aura seemed to leak out.

Yet it was this mere sliver of aura that triggered a massive change in the celestial phenomena!

Within a radius of tens of thousands of miles, the sky over the entire Xuan Yin Mountain Range became covered in dark clouds, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring. A sense of great terror descended upon everyone's heart.

Even True Monarch Taihe felt as if a great disaster were imminent.

But it was merely a feeling.

There was no substantial pressure or Divine Ability leaked.